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[Computational Complexity] Making Yourself Known

An assistant professor asks How do I get on program committees and editorial boards? PC chairs and editors-in-chief usually have several excellent candidates

Message 1 of 1
, Oct 31, 2005

An assistant professor asks

How do I get on program committees and editorial boards?

PC chairs and editors-in-chief usually have several excellent
candidates to choose from so you really have to make yourself stand
above the crowd. How do you do this?

Prove. Easy said than done, but no better way to make yourself
known than by proving great theorems. Quality counts more than
quantity. Be sure to make your results public, by submitting them to
sites like ECCC as
well as putting them on your own homepage.

Talk. When you give a talk, take the time to prepare,
sell your work, make the talk understandable and
audience-appropriate. Someone told me recently they treated every talk
like a job talk. Not bad advice.

Meet. Go to workshops and
conferences not for the talks but to meet people. Don't just hang
out with people
from your own university. Skip some sessions, hang out in the
hallways and talk to whomever is around. Reconnect with your old
colleagues from graduate school and make an effort to meet new
people. Have lunch and dinner with people you don't know.

Write. Write up your research well so people enjoy rather than
suffer when reading your papers. Put some effort into your
introductions and really sell the importance of your work.
In addition
write a survey paper, write a book, write a
weblog. Get others to view you as an expert in the field.

Organize. Organize a workshop, do local arrangements for a
conference or other service to the community. I don't recommend this
route for assistant professors as it takes considerable time and won't
help your tenure case much.